Back in 1990...
I was playing baritone sax for a big-band - a 17-piece jazz group that performed old jazz standards and a a special set of Sinatra tunes. One night, I had the amazing fortune of being introduced to a phenomenal conga-drum player by the name of J.J. Jackson (thank you, again, Stephanie!) He, in turn, introduced me to his regular group, the Fabulous Hey Baby Band - a soul band that played songs primarily from the 60's and 70's and included works from Otis Redding, the Grateful Dead, Chicago Transit Authority, and Santana. For the following 2.5 years, and in "reunion gigs" through 1997, I had the "honor" ("Salute", Don Diego) of playing with this fantastic group of musicians in all sorts of venues. The highlight of our career, at least during my time with the group, was opening up for Carlos Santana at the historical site of Woodstock for the silver anniversary in 1994.
In 1991...
Most members of the group took lead vocals in a couple of songs, and all of them sang backups. On our more percussion-oriented tunes (Santana, CTA) every member that wasn't actively playing their primary instrument picked up some form of auxillary percussion. One of the best examples of this is in Soul Sacrifice(9.4mb download). With eight members, and up to four horns, we had a very full sound and the diversity to play many different kinds of music from the period. We performed between two and five nights a week from Killington Vermont to the New Jersey Shore. Some trivial facts:
1992 - played the Pickle
Barrel at Killington, VT and stayed with the Budweiser Ski Team.
1992 - performance in New Jersey - we played in a club frequented by Jon Bon
Jovi and "Stuttering John" (of Howard Stern fame) sat in with the
group.
1994 - performance
at Woodstock Historical site (pictures to come soon!) We
met and opened for Carlos Santana.
In 1992...
The group dynamic changed slightly when George "retired" and we took on a new guitarist named Scott. We also picked up a ninth member in Bobby Ekezian (Bobby-"ox") who played piccolo trumpet and, like the other members, contributed backup vocals and aux. percussion. But as 1992 wore on, the recession finally hit New York and Connecticut. Even though we were still playing four nights a week, we were having to travel further and further for our gigs, and playing for less and less money. Eventually, late in 1992, I lef the group to pursue more mundane work, though I was invited (and returned) to play "reunion gigs" in 1994 and 1997.
In 1998, the band finally broke up after being around for over twenty years. The founders - Jimmy and Don were unable to resolve differences and sadly, the group disbanded. The current rumor is that the band is reforming once again... though that remains to be seen. If it does - and any of them find this site, feel free to email me and I'll link up to you.